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Sciences 

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method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
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Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
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et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

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5 

6 

Ij 


? 


V .   •■        i: 


P.  DONAN. 


It    1.— -~- 


/ 

/ 


THE  KLONDIKE. 


I 


L'*.  ■      • 


■•«>-<-     ■- 


I^V  %ff^ 


A  PROPHECY  FULFILLED. 

A  LITTLE  BOOK  on  the  mining  regions  of  the  Pacific  Northwest, 
which  was  issued  a  few  months  ago  by  The  Oregon  Railroad  and 
Navigation  Company,  contained  a  prediction  that  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  press  throughout  the  country.  Commenting  on  the  absurd  decla- 
ration of  a  well-known,  but  ostentatiously  ill-informed,  eastern  maga- 
zinist,  that  "the  day  of  the  boom  is  forever  past  in  America,"  the  author 
of  the  booklet  maintained  that  the  greatest  mining  boom  the  new  world 
had  ever  seen,  since  the  California  days  of  1849,  was  at  hand,  and  that 
this  year  of  our  Lord,  1897,  would  see  it  begun,  in  the  Pacific  North- 
west. Here  is  the  exact  language,  as  it  appears  on  the  ninth  page  of 
the  diminutive  volume  published  last  March: 

"The  greatest  mines  of  earth  are  yet  to  be  opened  in  this  far-western 
land  of  miracles  and  wonders.  Mountains  of  gold  and  silver  ore,  beside 
which  all  the  famed  riches  of  Ophir  and  of  Ind,  of  Golconda  and  the 
Comstock  Lode,  will  some  day  sink  to  beggars'  pence,  yet  rear  theii 
proud  heads  to  heaven,  untouched  by  pick  or  spade  or  drill.  The  veri- 
table treasure-houses  of  the  genii  and  the  gods  yet  await  the  enterprise 
and  muscle  of  the  sturdy  prospectors  and  miners,  who  are  destined  to 
fire  the  avarice  and  the  envy  of  the  world  with  their  Midas-surpassing 
wealth  of  solid  ducats.  From  Alaska  to  Nicaragua,  the  whole  vast 
system  of  Rocky  Mountains  and  Cordilleras  is  an  almost  unbroken 
ore  and  minera-  bed.  Although,  since  the  days  of  the  Montezumas  and 
the  Incas,  thousands  of  millions  have  been  taken  from  it,  not  one  ten- 
thousandth  part  of  it  has  ever  felt  the  tap  of  a  prospector's  hamme*-. 
The  surface  dirt  is  hardly  broken,  the  glittering  hoards  are  scarcely 
touched.  The  great  bonanza  fortunes  are  yet  to  be  won!  The  big 
booms  are  yet  to  come!" 

The  prophecy  has  been,  and  is  being,  marvelously  fulfilled.  It  is 
having  at  least  a  threefold  fulfillment.  The  Baker  City  region  of  Eastern 
Oregon,  and  the  Kootenai  country  of  British  Columbia,  have  boomed, 
and  are  booming;  the  great  mines  are  increasing  their  production  and 
their  dividends;  mines,  that  were  bought  for  a  song,  a  cayuse  or  a 
jug  of  whisky,  are  being  sold  for  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars;  new 


Northwest, 
Railroad  and 
le  attention 
3surd  decla- 
>tern  maga- 
the  author 
new  world 
id,  and  that 
cific  North- 
nth  page  oi 

far-western 
•  ore,  beside 
ida  and  the 
t  rear  theii 
.  The  veri- 
e  enterprise 

destined  to 
s-surpassing 

whole  vast 
;t  unbroken 
cezumas  and 
lot  one  ten- 
r's  hamme*-. 
are  scarcely 
!     The   big 

filled.  It  is 
1  of  Eastern 
.ve  boomed, 
duction  and 
:ayuse  or  a 
dollars;  new 


discoveries  are  being  made,  and  new  mines  opened  up,  with  every  pass- 
ing day;  and  a  new  era  of  grand  and  growing  prosperity  has  dawned 
on  all  the  camps.  The  Le  Roi  mine  in  Kootenai,  which  sold  a  tew 
years  ago  for  twelve  dollars  and  a  half, — $12.50 — has  increased  its  monthly 
dividends  from  $25,000  to  $50,000 — or  $600,000  a  year.  The  Bonanza 
mine,  near  Baker  City,  control  of  which  "Old  Tim"  Driscoll  vainly 
oflfered  in  Portland,  five  or  six  years  ago,  for  $2,200,  has  recently  been 
sold  for  $750,000.  Scores  of  sales  have  been  effected  at  smaller  prices, 
machinery  is  being  rapidly  enlarged  and  improved,  exploration  and 
development  are  being  pushed  as  they  never  were  before,  and  the  br.om 
is  on  gloriously  in  both  the  Eastern  Oregon  and  the  Kootenai  Bonanza- 
lands.  But,  with  all  their  rush  and  riches,  they  have  been  well-nigh 
eclipsed  by  the  third  section,  or  division,  or  factor,  of  this  wondrous 
three-ply  fulfillment  of  a  boom  prophecy— which  promises  to  surpass  all 
former  Gold  Booms,  and  to  add  almost  incalculably  to  American  wealth. 


"THE  KLONDIKE. 

A  REGION  till  recently  unheard-of,  has  swept,  like  a  golden  cyclone, 
to  the  front  of  all  the  world's  talked-of  El  Dorados.  It  has,  within 
a  few  days,  or  a  few  weeks  at  most,  become  the  center  of  universal 
interest  and  attention.  The  Klondike,  The  Klondike,  is  on  the  tongues 
and  pens,  the  telegraph  wires  and  typesetting  machines  of  all  creation. 
The  names  of  the  Klondike,  the  Yukon  and  Alaska,  like  England's  drum- 
beat, "resound  around  the  globe."  In  every  land  and  every  language  ot 
earth,  men  chatter  today  of  gold  dug  out,  and  washed  out,  by  pounds, 
hundredweights  and  tons,  by  the  pauper  prospectors  of  yesterday.  They 
babble,  half-crazed,  of  oil-cans,  old  bootlegs,  shot-sacks  and  cracker- 
boxes  overflowing  with  gold-dust  and  nuggets.  They  repeat  Aladdin's- 
lamp  stories  of  $800  in  gold  washed  from  a  single  pan  of  sand  and  gravel; 
of  bags  of  gold  corded  up,  like  stove-wood,  on  creek  and  river  banks, 
and  of  ships  coming  back  to  Portland  and  San  Francisco,  laden 
with  heaps  of  uncoined  yellow  gold.  All  over  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  and  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  bands  of  venturesome  Argonauts 
are  organizing  to  go  in  search  of  the  Klondike  golden  fleece.  Every 
vessel,  that  sails  toward  the  new-found  Land  of  Gold,  is  jammed  with 
eager  fortune-seekers.  When  the  Oregon  Railroad  and  Navigation  Com- 
pany's steamship,  "George  W.  Elder,"  sailed  from  Portland,  on  her  first 
trip  to  Juneau,  Friday  night,  July  30,  she  was  packed  like  a  herring-kit 
with  sturdy  gold-hunters  and  their  outfits,  and  20,000  people  thronged 
docks  and  bridges  and  harbor-shores,  to  see  her  oflf,  and  bid  her  voyagers 
Godspeed.  She  started  amid  fireworks,  and  illuminations,  and  the  chec-s 
of  mighty  multitudes.  Somewhat  similar  scenes  have  attended  her  every 
sailing  since.  Thousands  of  adventurous  spirits  have  gone,  and  tens  ol 
thousands  are  preparing  to  follow  in  the  same  golden  quest.  All  sorts 
of  preposterous   romances   are   being  published,   and   all    sorts   of  wild 


2 


schemes  and  speculations  are  being  floated.  Every  able-bodied  news- 
paperial  liar  in  Christendom,  who  can  be  spared  from  Cuba,  Hawaii  and 
Manhattan  Island,  seems  to  have  been  turned  loose  on  Chilcoot  ami 
Chilcat,  Hootalinqua  and  Saint  Michael;  and  every  crank  promoter  ot 
wind-railroads,  fiying-machines  and  Ali-Baba  financial  enterprises,  has 
apparently  set  his  face  toward  the  same  radiant  realms  of  the  polar  bear 
and  the  aurora-borealis.  Nothing  is  too  visionary  or  too  extravagant  for 
belief  or  attempt,  if  it  is  only  christened  Klondike,  or  Yukon,  or  Alaska. 
The  Klondike  craze  is  in  full  and  gorgeous  bloom.  Klondike  tradinj^  and 
transportation  companies;  Klondike  exploration,  exploitation  and  great- 
expectation  companies;  Klondike  development  and  investment  companies, 
and  every  conceivable  variety  of  Klondike  bamboozlement  and  sucker- 
snatching  companies,  have  sprung  up  everywhere  thick  as  thistles  and 
dogfennel  in  Dakota.  One  concern  is  arranging  to  build  ocean-going 
vessels  with  gull-money,  paid  for  passage  a  year  in  advance  of  the  laying 
of  the  first  keel-timber,  and  then  launch  river  steamers  from  the  decks 
of  these  unbuilt  phantom-ships.  An  eastern  syndicate  combines  business 
and  philanthropy  in  a  project  to  ship  cargoes  of  schoolmarms,  shopgirls 
and  chambermaids  into  the  Womanless  Edens  of  Dawson  and  Cudahy, 
Forty-Mile,  Pelly  and  Teslintoo.  A  lot  of  New  York  idiots  will  set  forth 
on  bicycles  to  seek  fortunes  at  the  foot  of  the  North  Pole,  and  a  hundred 
Minnesotans  propose  to  drive  through  overland  with  dog-teams  and 
combination  boat-sleighs.  In  San  Francisco,  according  to  an  attractive 
prospectus,  "an  expedition  of  ladies  and  their  relatives  is  being  formed 
to  leave  on  the  first  boat  that  sails  direct  for  the  Klondike  gold-diggings 
in  the  spring,  with  low  fare,  easy  terms,  six  months'  provisions,  and 
employment  at  high  wages,  guaranteed."  A  Chicago  man  is  going  by 
balloon,  and  a  party  of  Londoners  will  come  around  by  way  of  Cape 
Horn.  Every  maritime  boneyard  in  creation  is  being  ransacked  for 
ancient  and  wormeaten  hulks,  to  be  put  into  service  on  some  gaudily 
advertised  Alaskan,  Yukon  or  Kamschatkan  freight  and  passenger  line. 
Klondicitis,  in  madly  epidemic  form,  is  raging  among  all  nations,  tribes 
and  kindreds  of  earth.  From  every  part  of  the  globe,  deluges  of 
inquiries  are  pouring  in,  as  to  the  new-found  El  Dorado — where  it  is 
and  what  it  is,  what  its  advantages  and  disadvantages  are,  how  best  to 
reach  it,  what  equipment  is  needed,  and  what  the  probable  expenses 
will  be.  To  answer  these  natural  questions  briefly  and  reliably;  to  sift 
the  truth  from  the  vast  mass  of  misinformation,  fiction  and  contradiction, 
that  is  being  scattered  far  and  wide,  as  knowledge,  and  to  give,  as 
nearly  as  possible,  all  essential  facts  in  regard  to  the  far-away,  glacier- 
walled  land  of  so  many  golden  dreams  and  longings,  are  the  objects  of 
this  unpretentious  folder.  All  its  statements  are  based  on  personal 
knowledge  or  official  reports. 

WHAT  AND  WHERE  7HE  KLONDIKE  IS. 

KLONDIKE  is  a  corruption  or  mispronunciation  of  the  Indian  word 
or  words,  "Thron-diuk,"  signifying  "Plenty-of-Fish."  To  the  world 
at  large,  it  now  means  Plenty-of-Gold.  The  Klondike  is  one— and  a  small 
one  at  that — of  hundreds  of  tributaries  of  the  great  Yukon  river  of 
Alaska.  This  vast  territory,  then  known  as  Russian  America,  was  bought 
from  Russia  by  the  United  State  ^  in  1867,  for  $7,200,000.       Its  name  of 


3 


ied   news- 

awaii  and 

Icoot   ami 

oinoter  of 

)rises,    has 

jolar  bear 

vagant  for 

or  Alaska. 

atiiny  and 

and  greal- 

conipanics, 

id  suckcr- 

listles  and 

ean-going 

the  laying 

the  decks 

es  business 

,  shopgirls 

d  Cudahy, 

11  set  forth 

a  hundred 

teams   and 

1  attractive 

ng  formed 

Id-diggings 

isions,   and 

s  going  by 

ay  of  Cape 

isacked    for 

me  gaudily 

senger  line. 

;ions,  tribes 

deluges    of 

where  it  is 

low  best  to 

le   expenses 

,bly;  to  sift 

intradiction, 

to   give,    as 

ay,  glacier- 

;  objects  of 

)n   personal 


Alaska— meaning,  in  the  Indian  tongue,  "Great  Country"— was  suggested 
by  Charles  Sumner,  and,  in  view  of  its  extent  and  possibilities,  is  emi- 
nently appropriate.  Its  westernmost  point.  Cape  Wrangcl  on  Attu  Island, 
is  six  degrees  further  west  of  San  Francisco  than  that  city  is  west  of 
the  eastern  boundary-line  of  Maine;  putting  the  California  metropolis 
three  longitudinal  degrees  east  of  the  geographical  center  of  the  United 
States.  Including  its  outlying  islands,  Alaska  has  an  area  of  617,703 
square  miles,  or  395,329,920  acres — nearly  equal  to  all  the  United  States 
from  the  Mississippi  river  to  the  Atlantic  ocean,  and  from  the  St.  Law 
rence  river  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico.  Since  its  purchase  by  this  government, 
it  has  yielded:  In  furs,  $55,000,000;  gold,  about  $15,000,000;  canned  sal- 
mon, $12,000,000;  whalebone,  $10,000,000;  whale  oil,  $3,000,000;  codfish, 
$2,000,000,  and  walrus  ivory,  $250,000 — a  grand  total  of  $98,050,000,  or 
more  than  thirteen  times  the  price  paid  for  it;— and  its  productiveness 
seems  just  beginning.  According  to  semi-of^cial  estimates,  its  gold 
mines  alone  yielded,  last  year,  $4,670,000 — of  which  the  famous  Tread- 
well  mine  near  Juneau,  originally  bought  for  $400,  produced  $800,000, 
paying  a  clear  profit  of  about  $500,000. 

The  Yukon,  the  great  river  of  Alaska,  is,  in  many  respects,  "second 
only  to  the  Amazon  among  the  rivers  of  the  new  world.  It  is  navigable 
for  large  steamers,  as  one  unbroken  flood,  1,965  miles  from  its  mouth, 
to  where  the  Lewes  and  Pelly  rivers  unite  to  form  it, — or  farther  than 
from  New  Orleans  to  St.  Paul,  and  more  than  twice  as  far  as  from 
New  Orleans  to  Chicago, — and  navigable  for  light-draft  boats  hundreds 
of  miles  farther  up  each  of  these  arms,  and  others  like  the  Hootalinqua 
and  Big  Salmon.  At  its  mouth  it  is  about  60  miles  wide;  and,  1,400  miles 
above,  it  is  from  8  to  10  miles  in  width.  It  drains  an  empire  of  more 
than  500,000  square  miles,  and  discharges  nearly  as  much  water  into 
Behring's  sea  as  the  Mississippi  does  into  the  gulf  of  Mexico.  Scores 
of  mighty  tributaries,  like  the  Innoko,  Koyukuk,  Tanana,  Porcupine, 
Birch,  Stewart  and  White,  many  of  them  navigable  streams,  pour  their 
waters  into  its  majestic  channel.  About  1,850  miles  above  its  mouth, 
the  Klondike,  a  clear,  shallow  river,  perhaps  200  miles  long,  and  swarm- 
ing with  fish,  empties  -^ito  it.  Along  the  bed  and  banks  of  this  com- 
paratively insignificant  .-.ifeam  have  recently  been  discovered  the  gold 
placers,  that  have  arousv  d  the  attention  and  fired  the  cupidity  of  the 
world.  Their  amazing  richness  cannot  be  exaggerated,  as  their  extent 
cannot  yet  be  estimated.  The  truth  in  regard  to  them  surpasses  all 
fiction. 


INCOMPUTABLE  INCHES  OF  THE  KLONDIKE. 


ndian  word 
o  the  world 
and  a  small 
)n  river  of 
was  bought 
ts  name  of 


HONORABLE  WILLIAM  OGILVIE,  the  official  surveyor  of  the 
British  Northwest  Territory,  in  a  report  to  his  government,  from 
Fort  Cudahy,  under  date  of  June  10,  1896,  said:  "From  all  indications,  I 
believe  we  are  on  the  eve  of  some  magnificent  gold  discoveries."  From 
the  same  place,  November  22,  he  wrote:  "Every  report  that  comes  in 
from  the  Thron-diuk  region  is  more  encouraging  than  the  Jast.  Pros- 
pecting on  Bonanza  creek  has  only  begun,  and  very  rich  gravel  has  been 
found   on  the   few  claims  p/ospected.     From   one   dollar  up   to  twelve 


dollars  to  the  pan  of  dirt  is  reported,  and  no  bedrock  found  yet.  This 
means  from  $  1,000  to  $12,000  a  day  for  every  man  sluicing."  Elsewhere 
he  spoke  of  the  Indians  bringing  reports  of  "another  creek  much  further 
up,  which  they  call  'Too-Much-Gold'  creek,  where  the  gold  is  so  plentiful 
that,  as  the  miners  jestingly  say,  'you  hav^e  to  mix  gravel  with  it  to 
sluice  it;'"  and  he  closed  with  the  emphatic  declaration:  "One  thing  is 
certain;  we  have  one  of  the  richest  mining  areas  ever  found,  vth  a 
fair  prospect  that  we  have  not  yet  begun  to  discover  its  limits." 

All  later  accounts  not  only  justify,  but  amplify,  these  statements  of 
a  year  ago.  For  weeks  past,  every  steamer,  every  scow,  from  the  golden 
north  has  brought  back  men,  whose  plain,  rugged  history  makes  all  the 
fairy-tales  seem  tame  and  commonplace.  They  went  last  fall,  or  last 
winter,  or  last  spring,  paupers,  dead-brokes,  hardly  able  to  pay  for  a 
drink  or  to  buy  a  poker-chip.  They  come  back  with  thousands,  and 
many  of  them  with  tens  of  thousands,  of  dollars  in  gold-dust  and 
nuggets,  and  owning  claims,  or  parts  of  claims,  from  which  they  expect 
to  take  hundreds  of  thousands,  if  not  millions,  more  hereafter. 

The  steamer  Excelsior  arrived  at  San  Francisco  July  15,  with  from 
$500,000  to  $750,000  in  yellow  dust  and  nuggets.  Every  one  of  her  forty 
rough-garbed  passengers  had  from  $5,000  to  $25,000  tied  up  in  mooseskin 
bags  or  packed  in  ordinary  gripsacks.  Two  or  three  of  them  had  over 
$100,000  apiece,  while  nearly  all  of  them  represented  interests  wof-th 
countless  thousands  more.  One  of  these  lucky  goldbugs  was  J.  J. 
Clements,  of  Los  Angeles,  who  had  cleaned  up  $175,000  in  a  few  months, 
invested  $125,000  of  it  in  additional  claims,  and  brought  out  $50,000  to 
spend  the  winter  on  William  Stanley,  of  Seattle,  had  $112,000.  Clarence 
Berry,  of  Fresno,  California,  and  his  young  bride — both  poor  as  mission- 
chapel  mice — had  gone  into  the  frigid  Yukon  wilderness  on  their  wedding 
trip  last  fall,  and  his  returning  wallet  held  $110,000,  of  which  his  game  little 
wife  had  washed  out  $6,000  at  odd  times  "just  for  the  fun  of  it."  T.  S. 
Lippy,  secretary  of  the  Seattle  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and 
his  wife,  two  more  of  the  Excelsior's  big-luckers,  were  credited  with 
from  $65,000  to  $116,000,  and  so  on  through  the  list. 

The  Portland  reached  Seattle  July  17,  with  "over  a  ton  and  a  half  of 
gold,"  on  board.  She  brought  back  sixty-eight  miners,  with  from 
$5,000  to  $50,000  apiece  in  their  heavy  leather  pouches.  She  came  in 
again,  August  28,  bringing  thirteen  miners — in  this  case  a  lucky  number 
— and  about  $450,000  in  gold.  The  Alice  arrived,  July  28,  with  $600,- 
000;  the  George  E.  Starr,  August  20,  with  $41,000;  the  Cleveland,  Sep- 
tember II,  with  $400,000;  the  Humboldt,  September  14,  with  $15,000;  and 
the  Excelsior,  September  16,  with  $1,000,000.  The  Volante  landed  Sep- 
tember 15,  with  eight  miners,  averaging  150  ounces  of  gold  apiece,  and 
the  George  W.  Elder,  City  of  Topeka,  Al-Ki,  Queen,  Flanders,  Capilano 
and  Willamette  have,  on  every  trip,  borne  homeward  small  parties  of  the 
fortunate  gold-diggers,  each  with  his  precious  bag  of  dust  and  nuggets. 

These  strong-armed,  clear-headed  treasure-bearers  have  scattered  all 
over  the  country  to  spend  the  winter  in  luxury  such  as  few  of  them 
could  ever  before  aflFord.  A  number  of  them  are  in  Portland,  and  they 
all  unite  in  declaring  that  the  richness  of  the  new  gold-fields  surpasses 
all  description  or  imagination.  The  Associated  Press  representative  in 
Alaska  estimates  the  golden  output  for  this  year  at  $12,000,000,  and  every 
indication  tends  to  establish  the  conservatism  of  the  figures.  Volumes 
might  be  filled  with  the  impossible  facts  and  incredible  truths,  but  one 


t.  This 
sewheri- 

further 
)lcntiful 
h  it  to 
thing  is 

w'th    a 

iients  of 
:  golden 
;  all  the 
or  last 
y  for  a 
ids,  and 
ust  and 
i  expect 

ith  from 
ler  forty 
ooseskin 
lad  over 
s  wo'-th 
IS  J.  J. 
months, 
;o,ooo  to 
Clarence 
mission- 
wedding 
ime  little 
"  T.  S. 
ion,  and 
ted   with 

a  half  of 
ith    from 

came   in 

number 
th  $600,- 
nd,  Sep- 
,000;  and 
ded  Sep- 
iece,  and 
Capilano 
es  of  the 

nuggets, 
ttered  all 

of  them 
and  they 
surpasses 
itative  in 
,nd  every 
Volumes 

but  one 


or  two  brief  samples  must  suffice.  Mrs.  Alice  Henderson,  a  young  news 
paper  woman,  who  has  many  acquaintances  in  Portland,  and  is  well 
known  in  Dakota,  Minnesota  and  Chicago,  after  spending  several  months, 
with  her  little  three-year-old  daughter,  at  Dawson  City,  returned  in 
September,  and  tells  a  tale  of  golden  wonders  in  the  quiet,  matter-of-fact 
fashion  of  one  to  whom  miracles  have  become  every-day  affairs.  She 
speaks  of  Nick  Knutson,  on  El  Dorado  creek,  picking  up  a  nugget  as 
large  as  her  hand,  worth  $585.25;  and  of  four  men  taking  out  $42,628,  in 
six  weeks,  from  a  little  strip  of  dirt  70  feet  long  by  25  wide,  on  claim 
number  13,  El  Dorado  creek,  and  then  selling  the  claim  for  $45,000  cash. 
She  describes  seeing  Aleck  McDonald,  a  big,  raw-boned,  hard-working 
fellow,  turn  over  $150,000  to  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company.  About 
$12,000  of  it  was  in  a  granite  bowl,  and  he  said  to  her:  "Take  some 
nuggets.  Take  a  handful  of  these  larger  ones.  Help  yourself;  they're 
nothing  to  me."  She  met  Frank  Dinsmore,  who  took  out,  in  a  single 
day,  90  pounds  of  solid  gold— or  $24,480— on  claim  number  26,  Bonanza 
creek,  and  she  collected  material  enough  for  a  whole  library  of  Arabian 
Nights  romances — every  one  of  them  absolutely  true. 

A  wide-awake  and  reliable  young  Juneau  man,  who  went  to  the 
Klondike  this  season,  writing  back  from  Dawson,  July  23,  says:  "I  have 
seen  more  gold  and  more  money  change  hands  here  than  ever  before 
in  the  same  period  of  time.  Claims  on  creeks  flowing  into  the  Klondike 
are  rich  almost  beyond  belief,  $500  to  $1,000  to  the  pan  being  of  daUy 
occurrence.  I  will  mention  a  few  of  our  mutual  acquaintances,  who 
have  struck  it  here.  Harry  Ash  left  on  the  last  boat  for  'Frisco.  He 
takes  with  him  $100,000  sure,  and  leaves  an  interest  in  two  claims  worth 
fully  that  much  more  in  charge  of  his  brother.  His  saloon  business 
has  been  worth  $2,000  a  day.  Gus  Baake  and  Stevens  bought  his  place 
and  are  doing  a  fine  business.  They  are  erecting  an  opera-house  to  cost 
$12,000.  Dick  Lowe  is  worth  $100,000.  Oscar  Ashby  and  Billy  Leak 
could  sell  out  for  $150,000.  Sam  Matthews  is  going  out  in  a  few  days 
with  a  good  stake.  An  old  fellow,  'Razoo  Billy's'  partner — he  used  to 
chop  wood  around  town — has  been  offered  $60,000,  and  refused  it,  for  his 
claims.  Cornelius  Edwards  sold  his  claim  for  $25,000,  and  goes  out  this 
fall.  Bert  Schuler  came  in  this  spring;  he  is  taking  out  $500  a  day.  An 
old  fellow  by  the  name  of  Whipple,  who  built  the  Seattle  kitchen,  sold 
out  for  $10,000.  Jack  Smith  is  worth  about  $50,000.  McCauley  bought  a 
lot  here  last  fall  for  $50;  it  is  worth  $10,000  now.  Joe  Brant  is  worth 
$10,000;  he  sold  a  lot  today  for  $4,500.  McCulloch,  formerly  of  Wirt  & 
McCulloch,  has  a  saloon;  drinks  sell  for  50  cents;  meals,  $1.50;  shave, 
50  cents;  bath,  $1.50.  Bartenders  get  $300  a  month.  Wages  are  $15  a 
day.  I  am  doing  well  painting  signs;  have  bought  a  lot.  built  a  cabin, 
and  own  a  half-interest  in  a  claim  out  of  which  I  expect  to  make  a  raise 
this  winter." 

Another  Klondiker  writes  of  seeing  80  men,  rolled  in  their  blankets, 
asleep  on  a  big  dance-house  floor,  with  from  $500  to  $10,000  apiece  in 
their  belts,  because  the  safe  of  the  establishment  had  not  room  for 
another  bag  of  gold — and  each  man  paying  a  dollar  and  a  half  for  the 
privilege  of  the  roof  and  floor.  John  Kavanaugh,  a  coast  barber,  who 
struck  the  diggings  with  a  fiddle  and  a  piece  of  rosin,  has  amassed  a 
more  or  less  respectable  fortune  playing  "Money  Musk,"  "The  Arkansaw 
Traveler,"  "The  Devil's  Hornpipe"  and  other  classical  arias,  for  dancing 
soirees,  at  "two  ounces  of  gold-dust"  a  night. 


Gold,  gold,  yellow  gold  everywhere,  plenty  as  icebergs,  mosquitoes 
and  filth.  And  this  is  hut  the  beginning!  The  Klondike  is  only  one 
small  creek  in  over  15.000  tniles  of  gold-bearing  waterways.  Gold  has 
been  found  on  every  river  and  creek  that  flows  into  the  Yukon,  where 
the  sound  of  a  prospector's  pick  and  pan  has  been  heard: — On  the  Hoota- 
hnciua.  Lewes,  Pelly.  Big  and  Little  Salmon,  Stewart,  White,  McMillan, 
Porcui)ine.  Beaver,  Indian.  Dominion,  Tanana  and  Koyukuk  rivers;  and 
on  Forty-Mile,  Sixty-Mile,  Miller,  Glacier,  Birch  and  Preacher  creeks, 
and  iimunierable  other  tributary  streams.  Hundreds  of  thousands,  if  not 
millions,  of  dollars  have  been  taken  out  around  Cassiar  Bar.  Selkirk. 
Fort  Reliance,  Forty-Mile  Post  and  Circle  City;  and  rich  discove'-ies 
have  just  been  made  on  Sulphur  creek,  and  in  the  Minook  -egion.  hun- 
dreds of  miles  further  down  the  great  valley.  Scarcely  S.ooo  sciuare 
miles  out  of  over  600.000  have  been  prospected.  The  vast  ([uartz  ledges, 
from  which  all  this  placer  gold  comes,  are  still  to  be  discovered.  The 
world's  greatest  gold-mines  are  probably  yet  to  be  found  in  Sub-Arctic 
America. 


THE  CLIMATE  OF  THE  KLONDIKE. 

MUCH  has  been  said  and  written  about  the  rigorous  climate  of 
Alaska,  and  all  sorts  of  preposterously  terrible  weather  yarns  are 
being  daily  published  far  and  wide.  Sensational  correspondents,  who 
never  saw  a  mining-camp,  and  never  felt  the  tingling  rush  of  a  blizza-d, 
— ignoramuses  in  regard  to  everything  beyond  the  limits  of  a  city  garret 
and  an  anthracite  grate, — expatiate  long  and  lugubriously  on  the  horrors 
of  an  Alaskan  winter.  The  less  they  know,  the  more  they  write.  The 
truth  is  there  are  two  wholly  different  climates  in  Alaska.  On  the 
coast,  it  is  mild  and  equable  all  the  year.  In  the  interior,  the  summers 
are  short  and  hot,  and  the  winters  long  and  cold — but  scarcely  colder 
or  more  severe  than  in  Dakota  or  Manitoba.  In  the  summer  the  sun 
shines  about  twenty  hours  of  every  day.  All  ordinary  varieties  of  grains, 
grasses,  fruits  and  vegetables  grow  in  profusion,  and  wild  flowers  bloom 
everywhere  in  endless  variety  and  luxuriance  of  beauty.  According 
to  the  chief  of  the  United  States  weather-bureau,  the  mean  temperature 
for  the  winter,  in  the  coast  regions,  is  32.5,  or  almost  exactly  the  same  as 
that  of  Washington  City; — and  the  official  records  of  government  obser- 
vations show  the  mean  temperatures,  from  October  to  April,  in  the 
upper  Yukon  region  to  have  been:  For  October.  33  degrees  above  zero; 
November,  8  above;  December,  11  below  zero:  January,  17  below;  Feb- 
ruary, 15  below;  March,  6  below;  and  April,  20  above.  The  temperature 
remained  below  the  freezing-point — 32  degrees — from  November  4  to 
April  21.  The  lowest  temperatures  recorded  during  the  winter  were: 
32  degrees  below  zero,  in  November;  47  below,  in  December;  59  below, 
in  January;  55  below,  in  February;  and  45  below,  in  March;  but  thest 
degrees  of  cold  lasted  but  a  few  hours,  and  such  temperatures  are  not 
unusual    in   the   once   famous   "banana    belt"    of    Northern    Dakota    and 


mosquitoes 

s  only  one 

Gold   has 

kon,  where 

the  Hoota- 

,  McMillan, 

rivers;  and 

her  creeks, 

ands,  if  not 

ar,    Selkirk, 

discovcies 

egion,  hun- 

,000    s(iuare 

artz  ledges, 

,rered.     The 

Sub-Arctic 


Minnesota.  Dominion  Surveyor  Ogilvie,  who  made  all  the  authorita- 
tive surveys  of  the  Yukon  river,  from  its  head  to  the  International 
Boundary-line,  did  a  large  part  of  the  work,  besides  taking  many 
admirable  photographs  of  important  scenes  and  landmarks,  in  the  depths 
of  mid-winter,  from  November  till  March,  and  he  merely  says:  "During 
the  progress  of  this  work,  the  weather  was  cold;  and,  as  the  days  were 
only  four  or  five  hours  long,  the  progress  was  necessarily  slow."  But  he 
did  the  work,  and  did  it  well,  showing  that  the  climate  does  not  interfere 
with  anything  a  healthy  man  may  want  to  do  at  any  season,  such  men 
as  McDonald,  Healy,  Ladue,  Harper,  and  McQuestion,  who  have  lived 
from  ten  to  fifteen  years  in  the  region,  would  laugh  at  the  idea  of  the 
climate  being  a  terror  to  anybody  but  a  weakling.  Women  and  children 
stand  it,  and  thrive  on  it.  Mrs.  A.  P.  Barber,  of  Portland,  who  is  back 
on  a  visit  to  her  old  home  and  neighbors,  after  spending  nearly  three 
years,  with  her  husband,  her  young  daughter  and  two  sons,  on  the 
Yukon  and  the  Klondike, — and  incidentally  winning  an  ample  fortune 
in  the  time, — talks  far  more  of  the  loveliness  of  the  wild  flowers,  than  of 
the  rigors  of  the  winters.  The  climatic  drawbacks  of  Alaska  are  trivial 
to  well-equipped  people. 


climate  of 
r  yarns  are 
dents,    who 

a  blizza~d, 

city  garret 
the  horrors 
^vrite.  The 
On  Hie 
e  summers 
cely  colder 
er  the  sun 
5  of  grains, 
vers  bloom 

According 
emperature 
he  same  as 
lent  obser- 
ril,  in  the 
hove  zero; 
elow;  Feb- 
eniperature 
mber  4  to 
nter  were: 
;  59  below, 
but  these 
es  are  not 
•akota    and 


HOW  TO  GET  TO  THE  KLONDIKE. 

'T*  HE  Metropolitan  Magazine  for  October  contains  a  long,  illustrate  I 
'  article  on  the  new  Alaskan  bonanzaland  in  which  the  writer  says, 
with  an  air  of  indisputable  authority:  "The  present  routes  to  the  Klon- 
dike all  begin  at  Seattle."  The  falsity  and  absurdity  of  the  statement  are 
so  manifest  that  a  blind  man  ought  to  be  able  to  recognize  them.  To 
a  plain,  untutored  westerner,  it  would  seem,  that  "routes  to  the  Klondike 
begin" — wherever  Klondike-bound  journeyers  start  from, — that  every 
man's  route  begins  at  his  starting-point, — whether  that  be  New  York, 
Chicago,  Kansas  City,  Denver,  London,  Paris  or  Timbuctoo.  On  the 
Pacific  coast,  there  are  regular  transportation  companies,  whose  "routes 
to  the  Klondike  begin"  at  Portland,  San  Francisco,  Tacoma,  Seattle  and 
Victoria;  and,  after  reaching  the  Alaskan  borders,  there  are  at  least  seven 
well-known  and  feasible  "routes  to  the  Klondike."  For  convenience 
of  classification,  all  these  Klondike-pointing  highways  of  sea  and  land 
may  be  briefly  included  in  two  great  general  routes:  One,  by  way  of  the 
Yukon's  mouth;  and  the  other,  by  way  of  its  head. 

As  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  any  map,  one  great  arm  of  the 
Yukon  river  rises  within  a  few  miles  of  the  ocean  at  Dyea.  The  mighty 
stream  then  sweeps  north  and  west,  through  nearly  ten  degrees  of 
latitude  and  forty  of  longitude,  crosses  the  Arctic  Line  near  Fort  Yukon, 
and,  after  describing  a  vast  semi-circle  of  more  than  2,500  miles,  empties 
into  Norton  Sound,  the  northernmost  end  of  Behring's  sea. 

The  route  by  way  of  its  mouth  is  used  by  two  or  three  transportation 
companies.       Their  vessels  go  by  Dutch   Harbor  to  Saint  Michael,  60 


8 


miles  north  of  the  mouth,  where  a  transfer  is  made  to  river  boats.    The 
distances  by  this  route  are  approximately: 

Miles. 

San  Francisco  to  Dutch  Harbor 3,190 

Dutch  Harbor  to  Saint  Michael 780 

Saint  Michael  to  Mouth  of  ihe  Yukon 60 

Mouth  of  the  Yukon  to  Dawson  City 1,662 

Total 5,692 

The  distance  from  Portland  is  about  700  miles  less  than  from  San 
Francisco.  The  river  part  of  the  route  lies,  for  some  distance,  north  oi 
the  Arctic  Circle;  the  navigation  is  open  only  about  four  months  of  the 
year,  and  the  trip  is  long,  tedious  and  expensive. 

During  eight  months  of  the  year,  the  only  available  route  is  by  the 
head  of  the  Yukon;  and,  in  the  practical  estimation  of  most  old  miners,  it 
is  the  only  one  at  any  season  of  the  year,  or  under  any  circumstances. 
It  is  short,  cheap,  and  always  accessible  to  a  well-equipped  man. 
It  is,  by  the  first-class  ocean-steamship  line  run  from  Portland, 
via  Juneau,  to  Dyea;  and  from  Dyea,  by  sledge  or  pack-train,  about 
23  miles  across  the  Coast  range,  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Yukon.  From 
Dyea  Inlet  to  Lake  Lindeman,  where  the  boat-trip  down  the  river 
begins,  there  are  two  generally  traveled  trails, — the  Chilcoot,  and  the 
Skagway  or  White  pass, — diflfering  but  a  few  miles  in  length.  It  is  28 
miles  from  Dyea  to  Lake  Bennett,  by  way  of  Chilcoot,  and  about  35 
miles  from  Skagway,  over  White  pass.  The  distances  by  the  Chilcoot 
♦•oute.  in  even  figures,  are: 

Miles. 

Portland  to  Dyea 974 

Dyea  to  head  of  canoe  navigation 6 

Head  of  canoe  navigation   to  forks  of  Dyea  river   2 

Porks  of  river  to  summit  of  pass 6 

Summit  to  head  of  Lake  Lindeman 9 

Ijength  of  Lake  Lindeman 4 

Foot  of  Lake  Lindeman  to  head  of  Lake  Bennett  1 

Length  of  Lake  Bennett   26 

Foot  of  I..ake  Bennett  to  head  of  Taglsh  lake   3 

Length  of  Taglsh  lake   17 

Foot  of  Taglsh  lake  to  bead  of  Marsh   lake   5 

Length  of  Marsh  lake   20 

Foot  of  Marsh  lake  to  head  of  Grand  canyon    25 

Length  of  canyon   1 

Foot  of  canyon  to  head  of  White  Horse  rapids   2 

Length  of  White  Horse  rapids    1 

Foot  of  White  Horse  rapids  to  Tahkeena  river  15 

Tahkeena  river  to  head  of  Lake  Lebarge- 13 

Length  of  Lake  Lebarge 31 

Foot  of  Lake  Lebarge  to  Hootallnqua  river 31 

Hootallnqua  river   to  Big  Salmon   river 31 

Big  Salmon  river  to  Little  Salmon 36 

Little  Salmon  river  to  Flve-Flnger  rapids    60 

Flve-Flnger  rapids  to  Pelly  river  (Fort   Selkirk)    68 

Felly  river  to  White  river  96 

White  river  to  Stewart  river  9 

Stewart  river  to  Sixty-Mile  creek 21 

Sixty-Mile  creek  to  Dawson  City 46 

Total   1,64» 

A  total  of  1,549  miles — or  little  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  distance  via 
Dutch  Harbor  and  Saint  Michael.  Firstclass  fare  from  Portland  to 
Dyea,  by  the  staunch  and  comfortably-equipped  vessels  of  the  Pacific 
Coast  Steamship  Company,  operated  in  connection  with  the  Oregon 
Railroad  and  Navigation  Company,  is  $40;  second-class,  $25.     The  time 


9 


,ts.    The 


Miles. 

3,190 

780 

60 

1,662 

6,602 

•om  San 
north  of 
IS  of  the 

s  by  the 
niners,  it 
nstances. 
ed  man. 
I'ortland. 
n,  about 
I.  From 
he  river 
and  the 
It  is  28 
about  35 
Chilcoot 

Miles. 
974 

6 

2 

6 

9 

4 

1 
26 

3 
17 

5 
20 
25 

1 

2 

1 
15 
13 
31 
31 
31 
36 
60 
68 
96 

9 
21 
46 

1,649 

ance  via 

;land    to 

Pacific 

Oregon 

he  time 


from  Portland  to  Dyea  or  Skagway  is  from  five  to  six  days.  From  Dyea, 
all  baggage  and  supplies  must  be  carried  over  the  summit  of  the  Coast 
range  by  sledge,  on  pack-horses,  or  on  the  backs  of  men;  and  the  world 
has  been  filled  with  sensational  penny-a-liner  rubbish  about  the  perils 
and  horrors  of  the  Chilcoot  and  Skagway  trails. 

The  truth  is,  the  summit  of  the  Chilcoot  pass  is  only  about  3,200  feet, 
and  that  of  the  Skagway  about  2,700,  above  the  sea-level,  and  the  roads 
are  about  like  any  other  rugged  mountain  trails.  An  Indian  packer 
thinks  nothing  of  strapping  150  or  200  pounds  of  luggage  on  his  back, 
knd  carrying  it  from  Dyea  to  Lake  Lindeman  in  48  hours.  David  E. 
Brown,  a  Port  Townsend  mail-carrier,  who  started  for  Dawson  August 
29,  was  boating  down  Lake  Bennett,  with  all  his  outfit,  just  nine  days 
later.  With  the  help  of  Indian  carriers,  he  took  nearly  a  ton  of  supplies 
across  from  Dyea  to  Lake  Lindeman  in  45  hours.  Women  and  children 
have  gone  in  and  out  over  both  trails.  When  Lake  Lindeman  is  reached, 
the  rest  of  the  journey  to  the  Klondike  is  a  mere  down-stream  affair. 
The  trip  is  no  harder  than  any  old-time  Black  Hills  or  Winnipeg  jaunt 
in  ante-railroad  days,  and  many  projects  are  being  pushed  to  render  it 
easier  and  speedier.  Ex-Senator  Watson  C.  Squire,  of  Washington; 
Senator  John  P.  Jones,  of  Nevada;  James  McNaught,  and  other  men 
who  have  money  or  command  it,  are  said  to  have  organized  a  company 
to  build  a  railroad  from  Skagway,  over  White  pass,  to  Lake  Bennett, 
and  the  preliminary  work  is  reported  to  have  been  begun,  by  enterprising 
Portland  business  men,  on  a  cable  tramway,  for  freight  and  passengers, 
from  Dyea  over  Chilcoot  pass,  to  Lake  Lindeman.  So  it  will 
probably  not  be  long  until  the  Klondike-headed  would-be  bonanza  kiny 
or  queen  can  go  from  ocean  to  river  in  a  palace-car,  over  either  Chilcoot 
or  Skagway. 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  Yukon  Mining,  Trading  and  Transportation 
Company,  of  Delaware,  including  some  widely-known  names,  has  had 
surveys  made  for  a  railway  from  the  head  of  Taku  Inlet  to  Lake  Teslin, 
and  found  an  excellent  route,  with  a  maximum  grade  of  but  three  per 
cent.  The  company  is  said  to  have  secured  a  landed  concession  from 
the  Canadian  government,  and  to  have  ample  capital  to  build  its  road 
promptly.    The  approximate'  distances  by  this  route  are: 

Miles. 

Portland  to  Juneau  874 

Juneau  to  head  of  Taku  Inlet   » 42 

Head  of  inlet  to  Lake  Teslin   140 

Lake  Teslin  to  Dawson  City   509 

Total   1,655 

It  is  only  40  miles,  across  a  level,  wooded  country,  from  the  head 
of  canoe  navigation  on  Taku  river  to  Lake  Teslin;  and,  from  Lake  Teslin, 
down  the  Hootalinqua,  and  on  to  the  Klondike  and  the  mouth  of  the 
Yukon,  there  are  no  rocks  or  rapids,  but  one  unbroken  sweep  of  nav- 
igable waters. 

According  to  the  Associated  Press  dispatches,  Elijah  Smith,  of  New 
York;  John  Cudahy  and  Philip  D.  Armour,  of  Chicago;  John  Under- 
wood, of  San  Francisco,  and  a  number  of  associates,  have  chartered  a 
company  to  build  a  railway  from  Prince  William  Sound,  up  Copper 
river,  to  a  point  on  the  Yukon  near  the  International  Boundary-line,  a 
distance  of  only  about  325  miles. 


10 


An  English  company  has  surveyed  a  line  up  the  Stickeen  river,  from 

Wrangel  to  Lake  Teslin,  by  which  the  distances  would  be  approximately: 

Miles. 

Pnrtland    to    Wrangel 726 

W  rangel   to  Telegraph  Creek    100 

Telegraph  Creek  to  Lake  Teslin IBO 

Lake  Teslin  to  Dawson  City 690 

Total   1,576 

Last,  but  not  least  feasible  or  favorable,  a  railroad  survey  has  been 

made  over  the  Dalton  trail  from  Chilcat  on  Lynn  Canal  or  Taiya  Inlet  to 

Fort  Selkirk.    The  distance  is  only  about  350  miles,  over  a  comparatively 

well-wooded  country,  where  pasturage  in  the  summer  is  abundant.    Herds 

of  beef  cattle  have  been  driven  over  it,  and  trains  of  pack-horses  have 

traversed  it  for  years.    By  this  route  the  distances  are: 

Miles. 

I'ortland  to  .Tuneau 874 

Juneau  to  Chilcat   80 

Chilcat  to  Fort  Selkirk  860 

Selkirk  to  Dawson  172 

Total   1,476 

As  they  are  now,  all  these  "routes  to  the  Klondike" — which  do  not 
''begin  at  Juneau" — are  travelable,  almost  the  year  round,  by  any  well- 
outfitted  man  or  party  of  men.  Timber  for  fuel,  boats,  rafts,  sleds  and  all 
other  purposes  abounds  everywhere,  and  an  Alaskan  snow-storm  or 
blizzard  is  no  worse  than  one  of  the  Dakotan  or  Minnesotan  breed.  Zero 
is  no  colder  at  Teslintoo  than  at  Fargo  or  St.  Paul. 

THE  NECESSARY  OUTFIT  FOR  THE  KLONDIKE. 

THE  comfort,  if  not  the  health  and  safety,  of  the  expedition  will  depend 
largely  on  the  outfit  or  equipment,  and  this  of  course  will  vary 
according  to  the  means  or  tastes  of  the  fortune-seekers.  Men  should 
go  in  parties  of  four  or  five,  so  that  one  tent,  stove,  and  boat  or  raft, 
may  serve  for  all,  and  every  one  should,  if  possible,  take  a  full  year's 
supplies.  There  should  be  at  least  one  in  each  party  with  some  knowl- 
edge of  carpentry  and  boat-building.  An  almost  luxurious  outfit  for 
such  a  party  might  include: 

1  tent,   10x12  feet.  1  plane. 


1  Yukon  stove. 

1  frying-pan. 

2  coffee-pots. 
6  plates. 

6  cups. 

(5  knives  and  forks. 

6  spoons. 

2  butcher  knives. 

2  hatchets. 

1  drawing-knife. 


2  hammers. 
200  feet  of  rope. 

6  pack-straps. 

1  hand-saw. 

1  whip-saw. 
12  assorted  files. 

1  brace  and  bits. 
25  pounds  of  assorted  nails. 
15  pounds  of  oakum. 
10  pounds  of  Ditch. 
An  assortment  of  fishing  tackle. 


If  in  addition,  a  good  "knock-down"  boat  can  be  afforded,  there  will 
be  little  lacking  that  is  essential  to  "life,  liberty  and  pursuit  of" — gold. 


11 


iver,  from 
aximately: 

Miiea. 

. . .       726 

, . .       100 

. . .       160 

. .       599 


. ..    1,676 

has  been 
i^a  Inlet  to 
iparatively 
nt.  Herds 
Drses  have 

Miles. 

. .      874 

80 

860 

172 

...    1.476 

ch  do  not 
any  well- 
ids  and  all 
-storm  or 
eed.    Zero 


DIKE. 

rill  depend 
will  vary 
en  should 
at  or  raft, 
full  year's 
ne  knowl- 
outfit   for 


Is. 


there  will 
'—gold. 


Each  man  should  have  a  gold-pan,  a  pick,  shovel,  ax  and  hatchet, 
a  pocket  compass,  a  stout  clasp-knife,  a  pair  of  snow-glasses  to  save  the 
eyes  from  the  glare  of  sunlight  on  snow,  and  perhaps  a  gun  for  hunting 
purposes.  In  the  way  of  clothing,  a  full  equipment  for  each  man  would 
consist  of: 


8  suits  of  heavy  woolen  underwear. 
4  heavy  overshirts. 

1  dozen  pairs  of  heavy  woolen  socks. 

2  pairs  of  German  socks. 

1  Mackinaw  coat. 

2  pairs  of  heavy  rubber  boots. 
1  rubber  overcoat. 


2  suits  of  light  underwear. 

2  sweaters. 

6  pairs  of  mittens. 

4  pairs  of  stout  overalls. 

2  pairs  of  Mackinaw  trousers. 

2  pairs  of  heavy  blankets. 


A  little  rubber  for  mending  gum  boots  and  coats,  needles,  thread 
and  general  repairing  materials  should  be  included,  and  S  or  lo  vards  ol 
mosquito-netting,  as  these  diminutive  pests  abound  in  the  summertime. 
And  each  man  should  have,  if  possible,  something  like  this  supply  oi 
groceries,  provisions'  and  sundries: 


350  pounds  of  flour. 
150  pounds  of  bacon. 
100  pounds  of  beans. 

10  pounds  of  tea. 

25  pounds  of   rice. 

25  pounds  of  dry  salt  pork. 

75  pounds  of  dried   fruits. 

50  pounds  of   salt. 
2  pounds  of  evaporated  vinegar. 

50  pounds  of  corn-meal. 


26  pounds  of  rolled  oats. 

25  pounds  of  coffee. 

75  pounds  of  sugar. 

25  pounds  of  dried  beef. 

25  pounds  of  evaporated  potatoes. 

10  pounds  of  evaporated  onions. 

5  pounds  of  bakiYig  powder. 

2  pounds  of  condensed  milk. 

2  pounds  of  condensed  soup. 


A  box  of  candles,  a  dozen  bars  of  soap,  a  can  of  mustard,  a  bottle  or 
two  of  Jamaica  ginger,  and  a  tin  of  matches.  A  small  medicine  case, 
stocked  chiefly  with  quinine  and  calomel,  will  be  found  valuable;  and  a 
little  vial  of  good  whisky — holding,  say  8  or  lo  gallons — sometimes 
comes  to  use.  Such  an  outfit  can  be  obtained  in  Portland  for  from  $125 
to  $150,  and  with  it,  any  man  can  spend  a  year  almost  luxuriously  on 
the  Klondike; — but  men  have  gone  into  the  Yukon  country,  and  won 
fortunes  with  less  than  half  of  it. 

PORTLAND  THE  BEST  OUTFITTING  PLACE. 

THERE  can  be  but  one  best  thing  of  any  kind,  and  but  one  best  place 
for  any  purpose.  As  an  outfitting-point  for  the  stout-hearted  hosts 
of  Klondike-bound  gold-seekers,  PORTLAND  IS  THAT  BEST 
PLACE,  beyond  all  cavil  or  comparison.  As  the  accompanying  map  of 
the  Oregon  Railroad  and  Navigation  Company  shows,  Portland  is  on 
the  only  direct  route  to  the  Yukon  and  the  Klondike,  from  any  part  of 
the  L^nited  States  south  of  St.  Paul  and  Duluth.  Portland  is  almost  on  an 
air-line  to  Alaska,  from  all  the  eastern  and  southern  regions  of  the 
Union.  It  is  the  only  port  on  the  Pacific  coast  from  which  there  is 
a  regular,  firstclass  ocean-steamship  line  direct  to  Sitka,  Juneau,  Dyea 
and  Skagway.  No  unseaworthy  hulks  are  sent  out  from  the 
Oregon  Railroad  and  Navigation  Company's  ocean  docks  at  Port- 
land, and  there  has  never  been  a  complaint  from  one  of  its  legions 
of  fortune-hunting  voyagers.     Portland  is,  after  San  Francisco,  the  only 

12 


great  city  of  the  Pacific  coast.  It  is  the  one  metropoHtan  city  of  the 
North  Pacific.  Its  weekly  bank  clearings  generally  amount  to  more  than 
those  of  Seattle,  Tacoma  and  Spokane,  all  combined; — and  that  is  the 
infallible  measure  of  business  done.  Its  wholesale  and  jobbing  business 
has  amounted  to  $100,000,000  a  year,  and  its  manufactures  have  reached  a 
grand  aggregate  of  $30,000,000  a  year.  The  Exposition  of  Oregon  Manu- 
factures, which  opened  in  this  city  September  22,  shows  that  nearly  every 
important  article  needed  for  a  firstclass  Klondike  outfit  is  made  here,  so 
there  is  no  piling-up  of  handling  and  shipping  charges  to  be  imposed 
upon  the  buyer.  Portland  merchants  carry  immense  stocks  of  all  the 
goods  needed  for  the  Alaska  trade,  and  prices  are  lower  here  than  in  San 
Francisco  or  Chicago,  because  expenses  are  less.  Portland  is  the  metrop- 
olis of  the  grand  empire  drained  by  the  Columbia  river,  which  is  unsur- 
passed in  productiveness  by  any  region  of  the  globe,  yielding  in  limitless 
abundance  every  variety  of  breadstuiTs,  meats,  fruits  and  vegetables,  essen- 
tial to  the  comfort  of  the  dwellers  in  Yukon  bonanza-kings'  cabins.  Pro- 
visions cannot  be  bought  cheaper  anywhere  in  America.  A  large  part  of 
all  the  Klondike  outfits  sold  in  other  Pacific  coast  towns  are  originally 
bought  of  Portland  manufacturers,  jobbers  and  wholesale  merchants.  In 
brief,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  a  Klondike  pilgrim  can  save  his  steamship  fare 
on  the  price  of  his  outfit  by  obtaining  it  in  Portland,  the  only  true  metrop- 
olis of  the  Pacific  Northwest. 

THE  ONLY  DIRECT  ^OUTE  TO  THE  KLONDIKE. 

NO  ONE,  who  has  glanced  over  this  brief  presentation  of  facts  and 
figures,  needs  to  be  assured  that,  notwithstanding  the  positive  asser- 
tion of  The  Metropolitan  Magazine's  correspondent,  "all  the  present 
routes  to  the  Klondike"  do  not  "begin  at  Seattle."  The  OREGON 
RAILROAD  AND  NAVIGATION  COMPANY  offers  TWO  direct 
routes  to  PORTLAND  in  connection  with  the  FIRSTCLASS  STEAM- 
SHIP LINE  for  SITKA,  JUNEAU,  DYEA  and  SKAGWAY.  The 
Oregon  Short  Line  with  its  connections  enables  intending  gold  hunters  to 
select  a  route  through  Omaha,  Kansas  City,  Denver,  Salt  Lake,  Ogden 
and  Huntington,  passing  through  the  GREAT  MINING  REGIONS  OF 
COLORADO,  UTAH,  IDAHO  and  EASTERN  OREGON  without 
extra  charge.  The  Great  Northern  Railway,  in  connection  with  the 
railways  leading  to  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis,  together  with  its  Steamship 
line  through  the  great  lakes,  forms  the  second  route  via  Spokane,  passing 
through  Montana,  Idaho  and  Washington,  within  easy  stages  of  the  great 
MINING  DISTRICTS  of  the  KOOTENAI  and  COEUR  D'ALENE. 
The  Oregon  Railroad  and  Navigation  Company,  with  its  connections, 
has  the  shortest,  quickest  and  in  every  way  best  line  from  all  eastern 
and  southern  points  to  Alaska.  Its  track,  trains  and  equipment  are 
all  firstclass,  and  it  traverses  regions  unsurpassed  in  mineral  riches 
and  scenic  grandeur  and  beauty.  The  firstclass  iron  steamship,  "George 
W.  Elder,"  has  been  running  regularly  between  Portland  and  Dyea,  via 

13 


BttU 


Juneau,  ever  since  the  northward  rush  began.  She  is  classed  Ai  by  tlie 
United  States  inspectors,  carries  400  passengers  and  1,500  tons  of  freight, 
and  is  fitted  up  with  every  modern  comfort  and  convenience.  She  sailed 
on  her  first  voyage  lo  the  Alaskan  gold-fields,  Friday  night,  July  30,  1897, 
crowded  to  the  last  available  inch  of  her  space;  and  the  city  of  Portland 
never  before  gave  such  a  farewell  of  fireworks,  hurrahs  and  God-speed- 
yous  to  any  departing  vessel.  She  has  sailed  every  eighteen  days  since, 
and  there  has  never  been  a  whisper  of  Cvomplaint  from  any  one  of  the 
hosts  of  Klondikers  who  have  gone  beneath  her  flag.  Additional  steam- 
ers— all  seaworthy,  all  firstclass — will  be  put  into  the  service  as  they  are 
needed,  and  every  possible  arrangement  will  be  made  to  render  the  gold- 
seeker's  voyage  a  pleasure-trip. 

Connection  is  made  at  Sitka  with  the  steamers  of  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company  for  Unalaska  and  all  important  way  points.  The  steam- 
ships sail  from  Sitka  on  or  about  the  8th  of  each  month  from  March  to 
November,  and  the  rates  are: 


Sitka  to  or  from  Yakutat 

Sitka  to  or  from  Nutchik  

Sitka  to  or  from  Kodiak  (St.  Paul) 

Sitka  to  or  from  Karluk 

Sitka  to  or  from  Unga 

Sitka  to  or  from  Sand  Point 

Sitka  to  or  from  Unalaska 

Kodiak  (St.  Paul)  to  or  from  Unalaska. 

Yakutat  to  or  from  Nutchik 

Nutchik  to  or  from  Kodiak  (St.  Paul) . . 
Kodiak  (St.  Paul)  to  or  f»-om  Karluk... 

Karluk  to  or  from  Unga 

Unga  to  or  from  Sand  Point 

Sand  Point  to  or  from  Unalaska 


4-( 

Cabin 

Steerage 

Passage. 

Passage. 

Single 

Round 

Single 

Round 

Fare. 

Trip. 

Fare. 

Trip. 

1 

1  6  50 

$14  00 

126  00 

1  9  60 

■|17  00 

0  BO 

27  50 

49  60 

18  60 

88  60 

10  00 

35  00 

60  00 

22  60 

40  60 

12  00 

39  50 

71  00 

26  50 

46  00 

17  50 

53  50 

96  50 

35  00 

63  00 

19  50 

54  50 

98  00 

35  50 

64  00 

20  00 

70  00 

120  00 

46  00 

80  00 

10  00 

35  00 

60  00 

22  50 

40  00 

5  00 

13  50 

24  50 

9  00 

16  00 

5  00 

13  00 

23  50 

8  50 

15  50 

2  00 

4  50 

8  00 

3  00 

6  00 

5  50 

14  00 

26  00 

9  60 

17  00 

5  00 

1  00 

2  00 

50 

1  00 

10  00 

16  50 

30  00 

11  00 

20  00 

Berths  or  staterooms  for  all  Alaskan  points  may  be  reserved  on 
application,  by  mail  or  wire,  to  the  general  passenger  agent  of  the  Ore- 
gon Railroad  and  Navigation  Company,  at  Portland.  Each  passenger  is 
allowed  to  carry  150  pounds  of  baggage  free.  Freight  or  miners'  outfits 
will  be  carried  from  Portland  to  Fort  Wrangel  at  $8  a  ton,  and  to  Dyea 
or  Skagway  at  $10.50  a  ton.  Books,  circulars,  maps  and  all  other  informa- 
tion promptly  and  cheerfully  furnished  on  application  to 

W.  H.  HURLBURT, 

General  Passenger  Agent,  Oregon  Railroad  and  Navigation  Company. 


B.  CAMPBELL, 
Trafific  Manager. 


J.  G.  WOODWORTH, 

General  Freight  Agent. 


Portland,  Oregon. 


14 


^ 


flq 


.:  /^. 


c 


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